


Footloose

by Boku_no_Botanist



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alpha Levi (Shingeki no Kyojin), Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Footloose Fusion, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, M/M, Omega Eren Yeager, no beta we die like men
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-27
Updated: 2021-02-04
Packaged: 2021-03-08 17:27:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 17,096
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27220462
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Boku_no_Botanist/pseuds/Boku_no_Botanist
Summary: After moving to live with his aunt and uncle in the small town of Shiganshina, Levi starts clashing heads with several of the college town’s residents after learning about their ban on dancing and partying. He also finds himself falling for the local doctor's son.--A Footloose AU that absolutely no one asked for
Relationships: Levi Ackerman/Eren Yeager
Comments: 22
Kudos: 37





	1. Welcome to Shiganshina

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You didn't ask for this, but you did decide to click on it...
> 
> Please enjoy!
> 
> \- Boki 🌸
> 
> [02.07.2021 EDIT]  
> Removed the "Tall Levi" tag and have made the respective edits to the fic as best I can. I just... idk realized Levi being tall isn't necessary I guess :/

**I**

_“A curfew for minors under the age of 18 and university students will take effect immediately. All who fall under either category must be home by ten p.m. on weeknights, eleven p.m. on weekends. Town and university functions can provide exceptions. All in favor, say ‘Aye’."_

_“Aye.” Unanimous._

_“Motion carried.” The gavel pounds._

_“Punitive measures will be taken against any individual, group or property owner who organizes a public gathering where minors and-or university students engage in inappropriate activities - which include consumption of alcohol or illegal drugs, listening to amplified vulgar or demoralizing music, or participating in lewd or libidinous dancing. All in favor, say ‘Aye’,”_

_“Aye.” Like no one needs to think._

_“Motion carried.” The gavel sounds like a canon._

_“There will be no public displays of dancing unless supervised as part of a school, university, civic, or church-related function. Outside of these authorized institutions, public dancing among Shiganishina's minors and higher institution residents will be in violation of the law. All in favor, say ‘Aye’.”_

_“Aye.” A voice is missing._

_“Dr. Jaeger? Your vote, if you will.”_

_“...Aye.”_

_“Motion carried. This Town Hall is concluded.”_

**Ten Years Later**

Levi doesn’t get what he’s looking at.

Well, he gets what he’s looking at: his uncle, Kenny, waving at him from the other side of the gas station.

He just doesn’t understand _why_.

“‘Bout time you showed up, half-pint!”

Yeah, that’s Kenny alright.

He grabs his keys and leaves his bike at the pump, walking over to older alpha looking at him like he’s his most favorite and most hated person in the world. Kenny always called Levi a half-pint, ever since they first met when he was eight. It was tolerable then, when he was little because he had hope that he'd grow up to be just as tall as Kenny - they were related, little Levi had really thought it was possible - but now he's 24 and peaked at five-foot-three apparently. In Kenny’s defense... actually no. No defense for Kenny, he was always just an asshole. Though, if he was honest, it maybe... kinda sorta hurt to think Kenny didn't believe he'd grown since the last time they saw each other. Kenny hadn’t really _seen_ him since he entered high school. That was… nine years ago? Yikes, that’s a little bad, considering his uncle is the only other family he’s got. Maybe they should’ve done a family reunion a little sooner. 

What’s that saying? Better late than never? Yeah, that seems right.

By the time they’re standing across from each other, there’s a breeze in the air that forces both their faces to scrunch up, making Kenny’s smile turn into a grimace and Levi’s frown tighten. He isn’t sure about his uncle, but for Levi, he’s reprocessing the older alpha’s scent. While familiar, it’s been too long and he needs a second to register the scent of tobacco and pine tar that was always undeniably _Kenny_. They don’t say anything either. To a stranger, they must look pretty awkward at best, antagonistic at worst.

Good thing this gas station is deader than a cemetery.

Kenny decides to be Kenny.

“Well, guess you did shoot up like a beanstalk after all.” he brings his cigarette back up to his lips.

Levi blinks, “Clearly. Why are you here? Don’t I still have five miles until Shiganshina?”

At that, the older alpha sucks in a breath, breaths the smoke out through his nose and clicks his tongue. He points his cigarette at him.

“The old lady was worried you’d get lost, so she told me to wait for you at the interstate gas station and kicked me out of the house.”

He cocks a brow, “And you listened?”

“Said if I didn’t come back with you, I shouldn’t bother coming back at all,” he sneers, gaze askance before looking back at Levi, “and that she’d throw out my liquor.”

“Ah, now that’d be terrible,” Levi laments sarcastically before coughing out a chuckle. “She’s so stubborn.”

“Yeah, well Ackerman’s don’t settle for anything less,” he points the cigarette back at him. “You keep that in mind, half-pint.”

He nodded along just to move the conversation. ‘Keep that in mind’ sounded a bit too loaded, and he hasn’t been off the road long enough to deal with loaded sentences. It’s too cold to deal with loaded sentences.

Levi takes his hands out of his coat and fidgets with his keys. He sighs, briefly watching the mist of his breath fade out into the air. Too cold to think.

“Alright, Kenny, I’m freezing my ass off standing here.”

His uncle drops his cigarette to the ground before crushing it with the sole of his foot, “Fine, we can get your freezing ass to Shiganshina. I need a drink anyway. Let’s go.”

Levi turns around to walk back to his bike, but not before calling out, “You still drive that shitty convertible?”

“My 1965 Chevy impala is beautiful, and you respect her!”

.oO0Oo.

The ride to Shiganshina was quick with so little traffic lights, and his helmet helped fight off the nippy air rushing against him. Levi passed a sign that read ‘Welcome to Shiganshina! Population 19,463’ and he couldn’t help but scoff. How small town do you have to be to have your welcome sign be so specific with how many people live there?

Despite it’s rustic and rural barrier of large wheat fields and livestock and farmhouses, the inner part of Shiganshina is where its reputation precedes it. A close-nit college town where the restaurants and cafes were still owned by families who lived on a floor above the businesses. A university at the heart of the town that slowly filtered out to market strips and social pubs and the famous Riverwalk. Levi came from Stohess, so he didn’t take the bridge that cut between Trost and Shiganshina.

Shiganshina may be small on the map, but it has a reputation for its university acting as a scouting school for other big-league universities in inner and central Eldia. Unpolished highschoolers looking for cheap tuition? Just… need cheap tuition? Go to Shiganshina U, they are surprisingly reasonable with prices.

He came down to complete an associate’s in business. Erwin, who was busy working on setting up his own law firm, wanted Levi to help handle finances. At first, Levi didn’t see why? He spent most of his time after 18 in army tours, and found he was much better in the field than at a desk. Plus, he was trying to keep his income together and couldn’t afford several grand in tuition fees just for a stupid piece of paper.

Then Erwin told him that army service made any and all college free. And his mother wanted him to stay closer to home.

He did his first three terms at the community college in Stohess, but Erwin had suggested it would be better to move down to Shiganshina. Shiganshina was closer to Trost than Stohess was. Shiganshina was cheaper than Stohess. Shiganshina’s associate’s program was a lot nicer than Stohess’s.

And Shiganshina had family.

Family that was waiting for him outside Kenny’s bar. 

Following this uncle, he pulls into the bar’s parking lot, watching as two kids who were sitting at an outside table quickly run inside behind the darkened windows. Just as he parks and turns off his bike, he hears the door swing back open.

“See! Kenny’s back!”

“He’s back! He’s back!”

Levi slides off his helmet and tucks it away before turning around and watching a gaggle of kids rush Kenny. The man stands still because they’re all too little to really apply any sort of opposing weight to him, but he starts to falter when they start climbing him like a tree, pulling on his arms and clothes.

Levi can’t help but eye them warily, completely confused by the sight of so many children around his uncle. And even more confused about his uncle tolerating it, let alone seeming to _enjoy it_. But then, quite suddenly, he remembers that they’re all probably his cousins’ kids. He recalls one of them having a baby when he was in high school. Pretty sure that was the reason Kenny left Stohess.

Like they could sense his thoughts, their little heads whipped around in his direction, looking at him with their big, youthful eyes. The younger ones looked at him in awe, with their open mouths and ruddy cheeks, and the oldest looked just as confused as he did.

The oldest-looking of the bunch looked back at his uncle, “Kenny, is that Levi?”

The man glances down and grins down at her with an expression that Levi remembered all too well from his childhood, “Sure is, kiddo!”

“Levi?” one of the younger kids echoed, looking up at the man.

“Yeah,” Kenny still grins, crow’s feet pulling at his eyes. “Your uncle, Levi.”

Levi mentally cringes at being called an uncle, but manages to pull off a half-smile when the two younger kids immediately rush at him, keeping his arms open as they fall into him. Their scents are so faint, mirroring their age.

He looks down at them and can see Claude in their blue eyes.

“Hey,” he huffs as he brings them away from him, “You two are bigger than you look.”

“Are you gonna live here?” one asks.

“Yeah.”

“Kenny calls you a half-pint, but you don’t look like one.” the other says with wide eyes, like he was surprised at the observation.

“Uh… thanks?”

A tangy scent hits his nose and he glances up to see a woman walking past Kenny and towards him with open arms. Registering the long, dark hair and high cheekbones, he remembers his uncle’s mate, Luci.

“Levi, it’s been too long,” her accent still shows through a bit is what he thinks when he hesitantly accepts her hug. It wasn’t her, it was just how he was. As she pulls back, he recognizes the citrus in her scent. “Was the ride difficult?”

He shakes his head, feeling more relaxed when he sees the kids fade off from him and attach themselves to their grandmother before they’re shooed away to Kenny.

“No, it wasn’t,” he starts, turning to un-lodge the saddlebags from his bike, and slinging the strap over his shoulder as he moves to unstrap his duffle bag from the backseat. Luci shoulders her way in between, and he’s forced to back away while she grabs his last bag.

“Uh-uh,” she chides as she holds the bag, “you’ve been riding all morning. You must be tired.”

Her tone leaves no room for argument, but Levi likes to try and squeeze in a counter, “I’m really not.” he reaches out to take his bag, but she slips out from under him.

Realizing that he’s getting help, he sighs and trods after her, glancing over briefly to see Kenny balancing the kids on his arms. 

She walks up the bar door and holds it open while waiting for Levi to walk past her. He faintly hears her call out to Kenny while he takes a moment to process his new surroundings.

It was a lot bigger on the inside than it looked from the outside, but it was also welcoming and comfortable. Not too homely for a bar, but far nicer than the sleazier places he’d seen in Stohess or in other parts of the world. The liquor display was beautiful, and Levi could recognize _a lot_ of very good brands. One side of the barkeep’s counter led to the kitchen, another side had a set of stairs that he could tell led to the floor where Kenny and Luci lived. Two other stairways led to a mezzanine, a platformed area of dining, giving patrons a bird's eye view of the ground floor. 

When he heard that Kenny had opened up a bar and sweet talked Luci into running off with him as his partner in crime, he didn’t really believe it. Called bullshit. And he was right not to because it turned out that it wasn’t true. But it wasn’t entirely a lie either. Kenny did open up the bar. As it turned out, Kenny had gotten a lot softer than he realized. When his uncle learned that he was a grandfather, it had acted as some wake up call for his alpha, and he stopped taking on odd jobs up in the central Eldia, and _asked_ Luci if he could come live with her in whatever outskirts town she wanted to live out her grandparenting days in. At first it was a bit of a cat and mouse game between them, but Kenny won out eventually (or Luci, the winner changes between who tells the story). 

She wanted Shiganshina, he met with her back in Mitras, made their mateship _legal_ \- which still raised Levi’s brows when recalling that particular piece of information - and used their combined savings to open up a joint bar and grill.

To Levi, it still sounds like some fairytale, but he can’t help but bring himself to smile at it. His mother had always pondered if Kenny was going to clean up his act. He remembers her smile when his uncle had called to tell his sister what he’d done. He likes to always remember her like that.

He sets his saddlebags down on a nearby chair and turns as Kenny and the kids barrel in the bar past Luci. He quickly races them up the stairs to the upper floor. The door shuts behind her as she places his duffle on the accompanying table.

He doesn’t want to be awkward around her, so he asks, “Why’s the place so dead?”

He thinks he needs to revisit what constitutes ‘awkward’.

But she laughs anyway, “It’s still winter holiday for the next week, so our hours are much looser right now. We open at noon today, but you should stick around for rush hour. We’re much busier then.”

He tries another hand at his brand of humor, “The food tolerable?”

“Hardly! And it’s included in your rent.” Rent? He’s not paying rent. So she was still a dame of good humor. Just like he remembered. Sweet.

He unzips his coat as he feels the heat of the building set in, “Then I guess it wouldn’t hurt to stick around for dinner.”

“Good. You should know that we’re closed on Sundays, so that’s our quietest day.” Luci smiles as she walks around him to the bar counter. Once on the other side, she looks up at him as if she remembered something. “Before I forget, did Kenny give you gas money when he met up with you?”

The question takes him twitch from the unexpectedness of it. “Uh… no?”

Immediately her face scrunches up in a way that Levi is immediately not a fan of. She whips her head around and shouts up at her mate on the other floor. “Kenny!”

“Half-pint didn’t need no gas money!” Kenny shouts as he quickly descends the stairs, pointing at his nephew. “Besides he would’ve said ‘no’ anyway!”

“Not true,” Levi walks closer to the counter, pointing at Luci. “Not about not needing gas money. That’s true.” He points to his uncle. “I mean about saying ‘no’ to free money.”

His uncle clicks his tongue as he leans on the stairway railing, “What happened to those manners Kuchel taught you?”

He raises his brows, “She taught me plenty of manners. She also taught me not to look a gift horse in the mouth. Where’s my gas money, Kenny?”

He looks over to see Luci rummaging through her purse, her lips thinned to a line, irritation radiating off of her and souring her scent.

“Levi, how many gallons did you put in your bike?” she asks as she tosses a bunch of bills on the table. “I _told_ Kenny to give you gas money or I throw out the Jameson--”

“No! Luci, please!” he hears his uncle plead as he rushes to her, grabbing the money and trying to shove it back in her purse as she sidesteps him. He almost laughs when Kenny glares at him. “You tell her you don’t take gas money!”

“I don’t know, Kenny,” he looks to the side. “This is pretty funny. Besides, she did tell you to give me gas money.”

And it is funny, watching his towering alpha of an uncle chase around a tiny, frustrated omega between tables while trying to put money _back_ into her purse. He thinks it doesn’t get better than this.

He takes the moment to look back at the liquor display and see their options. Jack Daniels, Crown Royal, Smirnoff's, _Bacardi_? Whoa wait--

“Maybe you should sell Kenny’s Bacardi stash, too.” he calls out over his shoulder and smirks at the noise of indignation that Kenny sounds off behind him. “That’ll teach him.”

“Levi, you little shit--”

The scent of oak spur and French cologne hits him before he hears the “Easy, Kenny. The kids can hear you.”

Turning his gaze to the stairway, he watches as one of his cousins, Claude, steps onto the main floor, big grin and all shiny teeth.

“Levi!” he exclaims heartily as he moves in for a hug because that’s what Luci’s side of the family does. Lots of hugs that Levi can never prepare for. “It’s good to see you. How’ve you been?”

“Eh, better.”

The alpha chuckles as he releases his grip on Levi, “That’s better than awful. I’m glad you made it before me and my family take off.”

He shrugs his shoulders. It was just a coincidence that Levi arrived when Claude’s family was visiting. He wasn’t expecting to see any of his cousins or their kids when he moved in, but that was a poor mistake on his part.

He takes a small moment to scent the air, actively taking note of the different people in the building. Kenny, Luci, and Claude, he already knew; the weaker scents from Claude’s kids were centered up the stairs; some rich woodsy scent that Levi assumed was his cousin’s mate was up there, too; and days old smells of past customers still lingered around the main floor, but there was something else in the air. A day old, sour citrus and copper, alpha…

He cringes thinking about it, “Please tell me I missed Margot.”

“Oh yeah you did,” Claude chuckles as he looks back at his bickering parents. Even in a chokehold, Luci managed to keep his uncle away from her purse. “Mom reminded her yesterday that you were moving in today, and she took off.” His brows furrow as if he’s thinking. “I can’t believe you two still hate each other after all these years.”

Levi clicks his tongue, “Say that to her the next time you see her because the only thing I ever did was exist.”

“You know she was just bad at sharing. Always territorial.” as his cousin speaks, Levi sees the kids and a woman descend the stairs. She smiles at him briefly before herding her children to Luci and Kenny, who seemed to break apart in some short truce to say goodbye to their grandkids. “When you came into the picture, you split Kenny and Mom’s attention further. Spurned her pride.”

“Oops.”

“She’s just a narcissist.” Claude begins walking to the door to follow his family, and Levi follows suit. “But fair warning, she will still visit later in the next few months, so you’ll have to deal with each other eventually. Leti will come down with her family, too.”

He nods as he watches the other man grab for his coat and scarf, “Noted. Good seeing you.”

“Good seeing _you_.”

There’s something loaded in that statement, too, but Levi chooses to ignore it. Claude says his goodbyes with Luci and Kenny before hurrying out the door to his family. Almost immediately, Levi feels his aunt next to him. Before he can say anything, she shoves a haphazard handful of bills at him before rushing away to barrel into her mate. He’s impressed to see he literally knock the wind out of him.

“Don’t give it back to me and don’t give it to Kenny!” she shouts back at him while doing a great many antics to keep Kenny as far away from him as possible. “The last room down the hall and on the right is yours! Go settle in!”

Taking the crumpled bills and shoving them in his pocket, he grabs his bags and heads up the stairs, completely ignoring his aunt and uncle’s scuffle happening behind him. The transition from the main floor to the family floor was almost jarring. It immediately felt more homely and comforting. He guessed that his cousins visited often from central Eldia.

It then hits him that he _is_ tired despite what he told Luci, so he doesn’t waste time looking around and just heads straight for his room.

It’s clearly a guest room, with tasteful colors, fresh linens, and smelling recently cleaned. He shuts the door behind him and walks deeper into the room, immediately liking the lemon-lavender air freshener that lingers inside. Setting his bags down at the edge of the bed, he takes off his gloves and tosses them aside. His coat shrugs off after that. And then his boots soon follow.

He falls face-first onto the bedspread, feeling happy that his aunt has such high cleaning standards and that he isn’t flooded with the urge to beat non-existent dust out of the linens.

He thinks about exploring town as he falls asleep.

.oO0Oo.

When Levi wakes up, he notices that Luci was inside while he was sleeping. Her scent was stronger in the room now than it was when he entered. Looking around, he sees his bags lined up between the closet and dresser, his coat hanging up in the closet, his gloves resting on the nightstand along with his iPod that had been left in his coat, and his boots neatly placed against the side of the bed.

He’s caught in a mix of being embarrassed by not doing those things on his own before passing out and just humbly accepting it because he was warned that this was just how his aunt was.

He takes a moment to wake up. It’s been a while since he’s slept longer than three hours, so the nap has to be an achievement for him. Blinking out the sleepiness still lingering in his eyes and stretching out on the bed, he remembers that he wanted to take a drive around Shiganshina. He has a week to get oriented to the town, but he would like to get it out of the way as fast as possible.

 _I need to get my shit in order first_ , he thinks as he moves to get up from the bed. He smooths out the bedspread before grabbing his bags and unpacking.

He didn’t think to bring much. He was always sparse when it came to owning things. Never owned a lot of clothes. He lived in a uniform for nearly five years. He didn’t bring much because he didn’t own much because he didn’t _need_ much.

Everything was neatly folded and didn’t take long to put away in the dresser - where not a speck of dust was to be found! He felt respected. Kenny would poke fun at his adherence to cleanliness all the time, but the joke was on him; at least his mate had similar standards.

He placed his uniform on top of the dresser. It was folded and therefore wrinkled. He’d have to make time to press it later before hanging it up. Toiletries were placed in the guest bath, and again, he’d like to thank Luci for having actual good cleaning standards. Extra shoes and the bike jacket were moved to the closet along with the coat. Some books and office supplies along with a folded backpack were placed on the dresser for the time.

The tea set box was placed centered on the dresser, too, but he wasn’t ready to take it out. For now he just needed to place it somewhere, even if looking at it felt like looking at a branding iron. 

The gun went under the pillows. He needed to recheck the laws to make sure if he could carry in town. For now, he’d keep the knife in his boot.

And then he was done unpacking.

That done, he puts his boots back on, takes his coat from the closet, and grabs his gloves and iPod before heading out the room. Briefly, he wonders if it will be colder or warmer now that it’s the afternoon. He suspected the latter since Shiganshina was in the south, but wasn’t sure.

The hairs on his nape prickle when he suddenly catches a bunch of different scents as he goes down the stairs, but he remembers that the main floor is the bar. They just have patrons. That’s fine. Perfectly normal. He shouldn’t have been surprised.

The main floor is a lot livelier with customers, everyone talking amongst themselves. He watches a blond-haired boy bustle around the various tables. There’s another server up on the mezzanine where a bunch of young adults are seated. Part of him shouldn’t be surprised that the bar has actual employees. It would be absurd to assume that Kenny and Luci did everything on their own. But still, the idea of his uncle owning and operating a legitimate business with people who work for him? He’s going to give himself a headache if he thinks about it for too long.

He can smell the food on the tables and in the kitchen. He knows that he was joking with Luci about the food being bad, but he underestimated the smell of good food. Now he has the urge to eat.

He goes to the bar counter where Kenny is talking with a few patrons. They make eye contact, and his uncle excuses himself before walking over to him.

“Finally awake I see!” the alpha nearly cackles.

Levi nods before looking at the kitchen door, “Yeah. I was going to go out for a drive, but I realized I need food.”

There’s a glint in Kenny’s eyes. Something that always told him his uncle knew something he didn’t. 

He jerks his head in the direction of the kitchen, “Luci’s been doing some food prep. Go see her.”

Levi hums as he steps away from the counter, crossing the floor to the kitchen door and pressing against it just enough to give. The smell of cooking food hits him immediately, but he refuses to acknowledge the grumble his stomach made in response.

There were a few people scattered around the kitchen. The majority were older than he, but he spotted a few college-aged people here and there. Each one was busy with some sort of task. The college kids appeared to be wait staff, but there was one girl who looked like she was supposed to be cooking.

Luci was easy to spot, and he wasted no time in walking over to her. Peering over her shoulder, he could see her making some assortment of salad wraps. They looked neat; rather than being rolled up like a typical burrito, she had them rolled like a cone, so only one side was exposed. Levi supposed it was to keep mess to a minimum and stop food from falling out the other side, but he wouldn’t be surprised if it was also just for an aesthetic. Practical and appealing.

She finally noticed him and turned her head to look at him with a smile, “I see you’re up!”

“Yeah,” he says as he glances around the kitchen again, watching the staff bustle around. “Dinner rush caught me off guard.”

She chuckles, “I told you we can get pretty busy.” She finishes making another wrap, and puts it off to the side with a couple others. Levi can’t help eye them hungrily. “We have good food, good drinks, and a good reputation. Everyone comes here when they can.”

“I imagine the good reputation is thanks to you,” he hums as he watches the blond server from outside come to take the salad wraps and move them to a nearby tray. As he whisks by, Levi notices that he’s an omega.

She starts to make another batch. “You give me too much credit. Don’t forget your uncle can be quite the charmer himself. It was a joint effort.”

He makes a noise of acknowledgement. He knows Kenny had to have shaped up in order to stay with Luci, but sometimes all he can remember is the eccentric nomad who smoked awful cigars and just popped up whenever he wanted to hide out from the cops. Kenny looked like a fun kind of guy, but Levi remembers the stains that’ll be on his ledger.

He can’t help but lean his face to the omega’s ear, “Does anyone in this town know what he’s done?”

Luci smiles something almost sly, “Nothing they can prove.”

That makes a small smirk tug at the corners of his lips. Typical Kenny.

“Hey, I have to ask,” he says as he presses himself closer to the island Luci is working on when the young cook girl passes by. His aunt glances at him with pursed lips, waiting. “I noticed that the main floor is full of older people while the mezzanine has all the younger guys. Is there some sort of age turf war happening? Who shit in whose cereal and why?”

She looks at him for a bit before a snort rips out of her with a smile. Shaking her head, she looks back at him with a grin, “No! We’re a bar and grill, but we like serving everyone. More customers. To make sure that we’re keeping ‘minors separated from alcohol’, the mezzanine is designated for the people who can’t drink, and the main floor is for people who can. Patio is for everyone because the cops can see.”

He guesses that it makes sense, “Why do the kids get the mezzanine?”

“Because the mezzanine is cool,” she says, pulling out a plastic container and putting the finished salad wraps inside. “and younger people were more excited to sit there than older people.”

He guesses that makes sense, too.

Levi catches sight of the blond server coming back into the kitchen, but he beelines to a hallway that’s right out of his sight. A few moments later he comes back around with a coat and scarf and walks near him and Luci. Levi notes the vanilla in his scent.

“Luci, I’m going on break. I’ll be back in 30.”

His aunt smiles at him, “Alright. How long do we have you for second shift today?”

The blond is wrapping his scarf around his neck as he responds, “I gotta leave before 10. The dean sent out an email this morning. Break is ending in a week, so student employees have to start winding back their hours.”

She groans and Levi only lifts a brow to the exchange, “Already? Can’t they at least wait until next Monday to have you kids start winding it back?”

“No. Sasha and Connie will try to keep their hours, though,” the omega says absentmindedly as rummages through his bag. “It’s the same thing every break, Luci. You should be used to it by now.”

“I refuse.” she pouts. “I love my young workers and having to rearrange your hours for classes is a pain.”

The boy shrugs, slipping the crossbody over his shoulders, and casting a brief look at Levi before looking back at his boss, “Well, I’ll be back. See you at five.”

Levi and Luci turn their attention back to each other as soon as the blond leaves the kitchen. She takes the last salad wrap she had made and wraps it in a thin sheet before handing it to him. He takes it with an inquisitive look.

She smiles at him, but she looks tired suddenly, “I figured you’d be hungry.”

“Starving,” he says as he takes a bite out of it. It’s very good, the wrap has a subtle crackle and the chicken is still warm. “Thanks.”

“Of course.” she replies as she starts cleaning up her area. “That young man is Armin. He’s a sophomore at the university. Smart kid; great waiter.”

“Ah,” he says as he comes back from another bite. “He looked at me funny.”

“Of course he did,” Luci chides. “You’re a new face - which _is_ a rarity in this town.”

Levi hums, placated on that subject for the time, “What’s that thing with the dean?”

His aunt sighs, fixing her hair bun before looking back at him. “I’ll explain it later. Since Armin’s on break, I’m going out to wait tables. Oh! Here.”

She takes the small container of salad wraps and hands it to him, “While they are good as a snack, you need at least two more to actually be filling. You’re going out on a ride, right?”

He nods as he takes the container from her, grateful, “I am. Thanks for the food.”

She smiles at him before walking over to a nearby counter and taking an apron that was sitting alone. Taking that as his cue to leave, he makes his way to the kitchen door, keeping the container tucked under his arm. As he backs out the door, his ear catches his aunt scolding the cooking girl.

“Sasha! Stop eating the fries!”

“But they’re so good!”

“That’s the point! Eat them when you’re on break!”

.oO0Oo.

He had eaten the salad wraps before taking off on his bike. They were good, and he was happy that his first meal in a new town was a good one.

He decided to tackle the inner rim of the town first since there was less of it to tackle with his bike. He took a mental note of all the little shops and eateries around. He’d ask Kenny and Luci which places were best when he gets back. Most important businesses like grocery stores, the convenience store, motor repair, supply store, and other niche places specifically geared towards college students were all centered near the university. And duplicate store chains were built near the compulsory schools and residential areas.

The first few minutes out on the road, he noticed that a lot of people outside would turn their heads in his direction. He guessed it was the bike based on how they managed to look everywhere but his person. He knew that it was loud, but there was a certain air of freedom it gave him that a simple car or truck couldn’t. Eventually, he found it got easier to ignore the turned heads and wide eyes the farther out he got from the town.

The January air was nicer in the south, Levi had noted when he had felt the first temperature spike. While still nippy, it felt much nicer to drive outside in the open air down here than back in Stohess. Maybe even Trost.

The roads are old, but kept in good condition - even when he gets deeper in the farmers’ side of town. The countryside also managed to not smell like absolute shit unlike other rural places he’s been to. Rather, the outdoors actually smelt decent, dare he say even _nice_. And the countryside was peaceful and pretty despite most of it being covered in snow. It sparkled against the clear blue sky that seemed to have this sort of endless stretch to it. It was serene and even beautiful in its simplicity.

At least to Levi.

From what he’s seen of Shiganshina for the most part, he likes it. It’s pretty and calm. While he’s loved his fair share of high-energy nonsense, Stohess and Trost were almost _too_ much for him at times. Even in the military, he found it to be too loud too many times for his liking. But even with the hustle and bustle of town’s street life and his aunt’s bar, he can’t help but feel more comfortable in his new surroundings.

He likes Shiganshina.

But maybe that’s a stupid part of him jumping to conclusions before he actually knows all his pros and cons. Oh yeah, that’s definitely what’s going on. He should know by now that there’s always something bad to knock down the good found in something.

Levi’s optimism was likely coming from the fact that he hasn’t lived outside Stohess his entire life and his time in the military never sent him somewhere quiet. Shiganshina was a far cry from any of those places, and it’s fooling him. Shiganshina is still a college town and it’ll probably come with all the things that come with college towns, good and bad. He doesn’t mind exploring the Riverwalk on a night stroll, he can’t imagine what the nightlife is going to look like.

Nope, he was _too_ praiseworthy of the town. Something will have to come up before the end of the day and ruin his nice assessment. That’s the way things work. Levi doesn’t get to have nice things come easy.

And it’s true because something has come to ruin his day. In what he can only assume to be--

\--stupid college kids. _Damnit_.

He can see two vehicles coming over the horizon line at a pretty decent speed. He’s got maybe a minute or two before a horrible accident happens because while he’s busy following the law, whatever asshats happen to be coming at him are not. Why? Because while he’s driving on his side of the road, there’s a truck that isn’t.

Oh, and one of those brats appears to be hanging out of the truck and climbing into the other car in the middle of the lanes _are you kidding?!_

His gut reaction is to slow down (but also to speed up?), but he’s got some time. They’re over a mile out. They can be suicidally stupid for a few seconds until the brat gets his ass in gear and gets into the car.

The brat instead moves to stand on what Levi can only assume are the open windows between the two vehicles as they barrel down the road right at him.

He feels a muscle in his face twitch because the _nerve_. He’s met quite a few reckless people in his somewhat long 23 years of life, but this has got to take the cake. The balls on this kid are either huge or he’s clearly compensating for something.

And the kid flings his arms in the air like he’s on a rollercoaster to boot!

He’s got a death wish, Levi’s sure of it. And if Levi himself weren’t so intent on living himself, he’d be more than willing to give it to him.

They’re getting too close and that truck obviously hasn’t gotten into the right lane because that little _shit_ hasn’t gotten into the car, but Levi - in a moment of false hope and foolishness - thinks that sounding his horn is going to magically make the idiots put their ass into gear and stop fooling around. 

The brat in the middle keeps his arms in the air, unmoving. Of course the horn doesn’t work.

But maybe if he flicked the horn on _again_ ? (No, Levi, _no_.)

At this point, Levi should just swerve off into the field and avoid this potential collision all together. And he would if there wasn’t anything but _ditch_ around him. He could slow down and veer very off to the side since the vehicles ahead seem to be hugging the middle lane so the brat in the middle doesn’t slip and get his face shredded by skidding on the asphalt.

But that would be if Levi was feeling nice, and didn’t want to teach these punks a lesson (and also kinda show off).

He’s not feeling nice anymore. He wants to teach them a lesson. And, yes, he does kinda want to show off.

He veers into the middle of the lane and picks up speed, hunkering down as low as he can to his bike. He can hear the wind whistling through his helmet.

He wouldn’t be doing this if he wasn’t confident in his own abilities, but he should stress that _no one_ should do this if they can avoid it. But it’s not like he can tell anyone that while he’s busy hurling himself at 80 miles per hours toward the idiot that decided to play suicidal chicken with him on the road.

He sits himself back up when he’s within 500 feet of them, just to show off. And he swears he could see the brief look of fear on the brat’s face as he makes it very clear he’s not going to magically move out of the way in time to not cause a crash.

At breakneck speeds, huge distances are traveled within seconds and reaction time matters _a lot_. All that considered. He and the brat must have been fucking synched when it came to timing because as soon as Levi tilted his bike to fly under him, the brat swung his leg up and around from the truck to the car. He’s convinced that they broke a record.

If what he did wasn’t completely illegal, he would call Erwin later to tell him that they need to ring up Guinness.

Still, he had to admit it was a close call and he couldn’t stop himself from breaking in the middle of the lane to take a few seconds to process what he just did and what the fuck had just happened.

He takes off his helmet, finding it suddenly too suffocating. His hands feel hot through his gloves. His breath comes into the air as puffs of white, and he realizes that he can hear his own heartbeat ringing in his ears.

This situation gave him more of an adrenaline rush than he thought.

He glances behind him to see that the truck had long since sped off, but in his periphery he can see that the car has pulled to a stop a little off the road. There’s two people standing next to it talking, and maybe two, three others still inside the car that are looking on.

After a bit, Levi finally realizes that he can hear one of them talking - shouting.

“I don’t care! They should have never let you do that!”

Oh shit, is that Armin?

He can smell the scent of burnt vanilla from where he’s sitting, and he admits that he’s happy he isn’t the kid that has to deal with it all up close and personal.

He can’t help but watch in some semblance of veiled interest as the brat, who he can see is taller, with a pretty tan, and dark hair, seems to take the scolding in stride. There’s a strong tinge of ginger along with omega in the air, and Levi can’t shake the feeling that it’s coming from him.

This is going to be a problem for him.

The brat does some hand movement while saying something back to Armin - who Levi now notes that he is not only a blond-haired omega that works as a waiter for his aunt, but also this brat’s friend. Meaning that there’s a chance Levi is going to have more instances seeing him.

This is definitely going to be a problem for him.

“I have to be back at Luci’s in ten minutes, and you decide to pull this crap!” Armin is seething from where Levi can see. He had to admit that he did _not_ picture the sheer amount of rage coming from the blond to ever be possible. He underestimated him.

The omega points to his car, “Get in the car, Eren!”

Oh, no, the brat has a name, too? _Fuck_.

Levi doesn’t know whether to chalk it up to timing or what, but Armin manages to fizzle out of his raging tunnel vision and look past his friend to see him just casually sitting on his bike, staring at them.

Immediately, the scent of burnt vanilla starts to fade out of the air, and the blond’s whole demeanor does almost a complete 180. He walks past his friend with his hands up, like he’s trying to either plead forgiveness or look reassuring. Levi doesn’t know whether the reaction is because Armin might remember him from the kitchen or if it’s just because he’s loitering.

“I’m so, so sorry about that! My friend was being an idiot!” he hears him shout, ignoring the cry of indignation that his friend - Eren - gave. “Are you alright?”

He’s still sort of surprised that he’s even getting an apology, considering he just as easily could have caused them to crash at the end. He gives a single thumbs up in response to the question.

The boy seems to let out a sigh of relief before walking past his friend, “I’m gonna be late thanks to you!” He gets into the driver’s side. The other boy, Eren, looks back at Levi for a brief moment.

His eyes are very, very green. No, they’re blue. _Both_!

Levi realizes that he’s very, very screwed.

Eren looks away from him and opens the passenger door of Armin’s car before stepping inside. As soon as the door shuts, the car takes off down the road like a bat out of hell.

Levi sits there, stumped and maybe angry before shaking his head and putting his helmet back on. He doesn’t have time to dwell on whatever the hell happened back there. He needs to get back on the road and look at all the nice, calm, peaceful nothingness that rural Shiganshina had to offer.

This is fine, he thinks when things are clearly not fine. The silence is killing him. He’s alone with his thoughts and they aren’t helping him. He needs to drown them out. Drown them out with something until he’s not thinking about that brat with pretty ocean eyes that he nearly killed just for being a reckless brat.

Oh, his bike has a CD player. That’s good. That’ll work.

He switches his set from the radio to CD and cranks the volume up as loud as two flicks would give him (which even he admits was pretty loud) and let himself breeze down the road.

A part of him couldn’t help but laugh at the juxtaposition of loud heavy metal blaring out in the middle of nowhere countryside. When he passed a couple of fences with cattle, he almost felt they were staring at him as he passed them by.

Eventually, he finds himself letting out a sigh of contentment. Finding himself more relaxed after a few minutes of him, his music, the wind whistling against him, and the open road stretched before him. In the moment, he almost lets himself get lost in it.

And then the sound of police sirens hits the back of his ears, shattering whatever little peace he had managed to patch back together all over again.

_You’ve got to fucking kidding me._

His body responds immediately. Clutching the brake, he starts to slow down and pull off to the side of the road when he sees a chance. Once he rolls to a stop, he turns down the volume of his media player and moves to take off his helmet. Then he waits for the officer in the cop car to step out of the car and explain to him what the fuck he apparently did.

At the sound of a slamming door, he looks in his mirrors briefly to see the officer looks like someone kicked him in the balls and still hasn’t gotten over it. Based on the deep set frown lines and wrinkles, Levi is inclined to assume that must be just how the officer looks on an everyday basis - which may or not reflect his personality.

If the former is true, then he's going to be in for an unnecessarily rough exchange.

As the officer approaches him, Levi only has one thought screaming through his head:

He hates Shiganshina.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [02.15.2021 NOTE EDIT]  
> Y'know, this fic used to exist on FF.net waaaaay back when... it's definitely gone under heavy revision since I'm not writing this at 12 years old anymore lol - any way the OG ch 1 was only 3746 words and this new and improved ch 1 is 8055 words. That's a difference of 4309. Crazy.
> 
> I would appreciate y'all's comments! :>
> 
> WIPdates on my profile!
> 
> \- Boki 🌸


	2. Settle into a Disrupted Rhythm

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Howdy! I'm finally back with an update! Hope y'all enjoy!!
> 
> \- Boki 🌸
> 
> [02.07.2021 EDIT]  
> Removed the "Tall Levi" tag and have made the respective edits to the fic as best I can. I just... idk realized Levi being tall isn't necessary I guess :/

II

Levi sat impatiently in the table booth as he waited for Luci or Kenny to speak.

Luci broke the silence first. “You got a ticket on your first day?”

“Never mind the first day,” Kenny took a swig from his morning beer, “Half-pint hadn’t even been in town for more than _eight hours_.”

The nitpick makes Levi grimace as he stabs his fork at his breakfast. It still looks great - fluffy eggs, crispy bacon, warm biscuit - and was currently the only thing he believed would save his morning.

He spares a glance at Luci, who is too busy going back to sipping at her gin tonic to curb the slight hangover she got last night to pay attention.

Kenny grabs his attention again as he slams his bottle on the table, “Damnit, kid, _I’m_ supposed to be the Ackerman that gets busted by the cops.” He guffaws, and Levi doesn’t know whether he’s being self aware at what he said or if he genuinely thinks he’s being funny. “What ‘n the hell they even pop you for?”

Levi whistles out a small stream of air before reaching into his jacket pocket, fishing out the ticket he’d crumpled inside the day before. As he smooths it out, he can’t help but click his tongue as he reads over the erratic writing scrawled on the annoying piece of paper.

“It’s a real heart-stopper offence, get ready,” he says as he tears at a piece of bacon. Swallowing, he continues, “‘Disturbing the Peace.’”

Kenny makes a face, bringing his beer back to his lips as if it’ll curb the absurdity of what he heard. “What?”

“Oh, I know.”

“Okay, but what did you even do?” the older alpha asks, incredulous. “Unless you snuck out in the middle of the night - which we know you didn’t do - you were back before quiet hours.”

Levi nods with pursed lips because he knows all that, he nods because it’s clearly the most obvious thing in the world. Levi got ticketed during perfectly fine noise hours. What could he have _possibly_ done to warrant getting a charge of ‘Disturbing the Peace?’ Had he been screaming like a banshee while hanging on to the open windows of two cars as they blazed down the open road like a certain brat? Or had he been busted for nearly causing a car wreck? Oh, no, indeed what that anxious wreck of a cop had deemed ticket worthy was _surely_ something for the record books.

Recalling how the cop had stared at him with those stressed eyes, he flashed his usual grimace, “Oh, it was some stupid shit about how I can’t play music too loud.”

Luci stopped drinking her gin and glared at him, “This was when?”

“Yesterday evening,” he said with a nod, placid, “when I went on my ride after eating the salad wraps.”

“The ride where you spent most of your time on the farm-to-market road.” Kenny says, again stating what were clearly facts. “Where no one lives anywhere near the road.”

Levi points at the man in affirmation, “Yes. That would be the very same road.”

Levi then watches the pair scrunch their faces and turn to look at each other. He swore he could see the cogs and gears in their heads start spinning and whirling, trying to connect dots that he cannot blame them for not getting on the first try. He’d given up trying after the cop had left him standing with a ticket in hand.

They look back at him, brows furrowed in both frustration and confusion. Luci snaps an arm across the table, palm upturned and open while Kenny opts for another swig at his beer.

“Give Luci the ticket -” Kenny says as he sets down his drink - “Now, what was the name of the officer that popped you?”

“Uh,” Levi clicks his tongue again as he lets Luci snatch the ticket out of his open hand. “Some skittish beta who, _at first_ , I thought looked like he got kicked in the nuts but now I’d say he looked like he shit his pants in public.”

Kenny and Luci look at him like he said something genuinely disgusting even by Ackerman standards.

“Kitz Weilman.” Wow, they even said it unison - he must be a favorite.

Levi raises his brows, “Uh, yeah, that was his name - though I remembered Woermann.”

“It’s Weilman.” Luci sighs, finishing off her drink with a sad sip. “He’s definitely a piece of work.”

His uncle shakes his head, smirk-free, “ _Shit_ , no wonder you got ticketed. Yeah, Luci’s right. That guy’s fucked.”

“But,” his mate chimes in again as she roams her gaze meticulously over the damning slip of paper, “since it was Weilman that ticketed you, it’ll be easy to clear up.”

Levi, who has since got back to eating his breakfast, glanced up at her, “That so?”

She nods before her brows turn up in sympathy, “Though that is rotten luck. Getting ticketed on your first day, and by Kitz no less.”

Kenny shakes his head with a rough laugh as he playfully pushes his mate out of the booth so he could stand up, “Nah, Half-pint had it coming for moving in on a Monday.”

Levi can’t help but curl his lip back in a soft snarl, “You’re the one who told me when was a good day to move in.”

“Ha! That should have been your first clue!”

.oO0Oo.

The ticket issue was put aside until Levi needed to appear in court two weeks after the incident. But that was still over a week away, and he had other things to get settled in the meantime.

Over the next several days, he had confirmed his coursework and tuition fees for the university. He scheduled an appointment for the DHS to get his residential information sorted and confirmed and was pleasantly surprised to find himself squeezed into a spot only four days later. Hange made sure he had employment close enough to Shiganshina and while he’s loath to think about having to work in the same vicinity as her, he can still have some gratitude on display for the fact that he has a job so quickly after moving to a new place.

He had planned to spend most of his transition time working with Kenny as a temporary bartender, but Luci made it apparent that he’d have to stop working at the bar once school started the following Monday. He didn’t put up too much of a fuss considering that he wasn’t going to be out of work for that long anyway. He started his work at the Trost Museum of Natural History in February, and he wouldn’t mind a couple weeks of only dealing with academics.

However, there was something that Levi couldn’t wait to get out of the way: Sunday Church.

He knew that Kenny and his mother had to attend church as children, but he also knew that Kenny stopped going the second he could. How Luci had ever convinced the old alpha to sit through an hour long sermon every week for almost nine years and counting, Levi would never know. Then again, there were a lot of things that Kenny did now that he’d settled down that would confuse Levi.

He was just going to have to get used to that.

But wow, church was something foreign to Levi. He never went to it, though his mother always lamented how she always wanted to, but he was happy that she never forced him to go. The minute he stepped into the little church, he knew that he wasn’t a fan of all the foreign scents surrounding him in such close quarters. If his mother was with him, she’d simply chide that he’d get used to it just like she had. He remembers her tattered little scripture book, page corners withered to bits and bent at the pages she went back to the most. He brought it with him, tucked inside her tea set that he still refused to unbox.

He wasn’t ready for that yet.

He quickly realized that Kenny was just as in-tune to the sermons as he was, which was to say that neither of them were paying attention in the slightest. Kenny sat between him and Luci, which meant that if the omega caught them being obvious in their inattention, it was Kenny who had to deal with it. This made Levi dismissive when his uncle brought up the idea of switching seats for next Sunday.

And in truth, Luci shouldn’t be that surprised that they couldn’t care less about the sermon. Not when the reverend left so… just _so much_ to be desired.

Reverend Nick, to Levi at least, seemed more akin to that of a cult leader than a humble preacher to the people. Levi supposed it was just easier to latch onto a pre-existing religion than to go gather followers for one of your own design.

He was passionate, Levi could give the man that much. And it was clear that passion was what made him keep his congregation’s attention. Though he wasn’t too upset about what the reverend was speaking about - more accurately, _against_ , - something, something, progress, something, something, we tune each other out day by day. Something, something, we should turn to each other instead of turning away.

Maybe he was onto something with that last bit.

Regardless, he and Kenny were already disillusioned from the institution, so all they could do was try to subtly distract each other for an hour. Or, as Levi came to realize, until Reverend Nick decided to call mass to an end.

Near those last few minutes that seemed to drag on and on an _on_ , Levi noticed out of the corner of his eye a familiar silhouette.

The silhouette turns just so and - yep, it’s the brat from last Monday. Sitting second-to-front row and dressed like a proper little church boy, too.

 _Who’s he trying to fool_ , he can’t help but think because he knows what an absolute hellish little demon that omega is. A demon. A menace. A beautiful minx.

Taking the time to look around, he sees that the omega is surrounded by some other familiar faces. There’s Armin, the omega that he initially thought had a distinct vanilla scent which turned out to also be equally rich in lavender. Then he recognizes Sasha, the beta girl who’s always snatching food from the kitchen - leaving Levi very hesitant to assign a definitive scent to her other than a collective _food_. He also recognizes Connie, another beta that worked at the bar that smelled like macadamia and fig. There’s the alpha girl with short black hair that always seems to be at the hip with the brat - he’s got no name for her yet.

And yet his gaze gets drawn back to the back of that brat’s head. And _yes_ , he knows the brat has a name. Eren. It’s a beautiful name. And when he first heard it, _ahh_ , it sounded so lovely. It rolled off the tongue like pure air. If he starts calling the brat by it, he’s afraid he’s going to get trapped.

He can’t believe such a pretty name belongs to such a shitty brat. Better yet, why does anything that brat has have to be so lovely?

His name? So sweet. His ginger and daffodil scent? Amazing. His natural golden tan skin? Gorgeous to look at. That long, dark brown hair? Frames his face wonderfully. Those big ocean green eyes? Strike him dead, he could look at them all day.

And they all belong to that shitty fucking _brat_ . He _hates_ it.

He hates how he really wants to get a good look at those pretty ocean eyes again.

And like the universe wants to both bless him and damn him at the same time, the brat turns his head around and catches Levi watching him mid-stare.

If he wasn’t getting what he wanted, Levi would have enough shame to look away. But he doesn’t.

So he continues to stare.

And so does the brat.

Levi manages not to get too lost in those beautiful eyes to see that the brat doesn’t even look perturbed or annoyed that he’s being very obviously stared at. If anything, with those big, wide eyes, slightly raised brows, and subtly parted lips, the brat looks innocently curious. 

More and more, the universe and the brat seem determined to prove to him that he’s more of an angel than a demon.

If he’s not careful, the efforts are going to work.

And then the brat smiles. A soft grin with his cheeks pushing up at his lower eyelids with just the slightest bob of his head alluding to a laugh which gave him the appearance that he’s humored or even - dare he say it - _charmed_.

While he forgets how to breathe, Levi thinks Eren has to be the most beautiful person he’s ever seen.

A harsh knock on his shoulder jerks him out of his daze. He turns to see his uncle looking down at him with a knowing glint in his eyes and a smile that is just threatening to break into a shit-eating grin.

“What’s the hold up, half-pint?” Kenny’s voice is irritatingly teasing. “Mass is over. ‘S time to make a break for it!”

Levi can feel the heat start to rise in his cheeks, unsure whether Kenny saw him blatantly staring or not (though he’s inclined to believe he 100% _did_ ). But he’s not embarrassed on principle. If it was some stranger that caught him, he wouldn’t care, but Kenny? Kenny’s going to lord it over him the first chance he gets.

One final glance at where the brat was sitting and Levi sees that he had left with his friends quite a bit ago. Lips pressed together in a thin line, he gets up and follows Kenny and Luci through the pews as they merge with the rest of the congregation filtering out of the building.

As they step out the entry doors, Levi sees Luci fall in step next to him, and he turns as she reaches to gently pull on his shoulder.

“I want to introduce you to my friends, the Jaegers. Grisha’s the town doctor, and Carla is some of the best company I know.” she says as she starts leading him through the crowd. Kenny makes a noise of annoyance behind them. “Oh, stop it, Kenny. Levi should meet our friends. He’s already been here for nearly a week.” 

“They’re _your_ friends,” he says petulantly as he brings out a cigarette - some things never seem to change.

“Don’t let him fool you.” Levi sees Luci roll her eyes before she glances up at him with a cheeky glint in her eyes. “He says they’re my friends, but trust me - I’ve seen him sit down with Grisha to share a pint a couple of times.”

Kenny lets out a soft ‘tch’ behind them.

Luci leads him to a middle-aged couple who are standing not too far off from the stairs leading up to the church. Standing together, he smells a tolerable blend of sandalwood, basil, and nutmeg from them - and in part, he’s curious about how they both seem to have a spiciness in their individual scents. Most pairs try to have opposing scents rather than mirrors, to balance each other out.

“Carla! Grisha! Come meet Kenny’s nephew!” Luci calls out to the pair and Levi takes in their appearances as they turn to face him and Luci.

The man, Grisha, is an alpha, tall and lean with long, graying dark brown hair and a small pair of glasses perched on his nose. Carla, his omega mate is shorter than him, but with equally as long dark brown hair, a subtle tan, and watchful amber eyes.

Carla’s eyes immediately turn from scrutinizing to warm upon seeing Luci. Extending her arms, the woman shouts a brief-yet-jovial “Luci!” as she goes in for a hug, and Levi is forced to just stand awkwardly to the side while the two ladies amiably scent each other and exchange pleasantries.

When he turns his head, he catches Kenny and Grisha exchanging a curt nod and, _gasp_ , was that a smile despite the cigarette between the teeth? Luci was right. Kenny was trying to play him for a fool.

He swears, the more he sees of his uncle’s simple life in Shiganshina, the more he struggles to believe that the Kenny now was once the very same Kenny who’d hide out with him and his mother for weeks while dodging the cops, or the very same Kenny who Levi knew was hired for odd jobs rather than have a consistently legal line of work. Kenny who more often bloodied noses and broke bones and avoided people than he did make nice with them.

How is it that Kenny’s seemingly been able to move forward while Levi still feels trapped in the same spot? How does that happen?

“This is Kuchel’s son, Levi.” The raven snaps his attention to Carla and Luci when he hears mention of his name. He manages to give a quick, small smile to Carla as he nods a brief ‘hello.’

Having Carla’s smile directed at him makes him find it very familiar, but he can’t seem to understand why as she speaks to him, “Luci’s had Grisha and I very excited about you coming! How’s Shiganshina been treating you?”

“Eh, pretty alright,” he responds with a shrug. “I’m pretty sure I’ve seen all the sights and sounds of this town. Just haven’t met any of the people.”

Carla waves his reply away with a laugh, “Oh, but meeting the people is half the fun! I know you’re only here to finish an associate’s, but I think you’ll come to really like the university at least.”

“Just as long as he stays outta trouble.” Kenny shoulders his way into the conversation, resting his head obnoxiously on top of his mate’s, the smoke from his cigarette billowing through his nose despite his open mouth. He puts on a mask of faux sympathy as he turns to Carla. “Kitz gave him a ticket on his first day in the city.”

Carla and Luci roll their eyes in unison while Levi lets out an exasperated _tch_ . Leave it to Kenny to take what he views as an opportunity for entertainment. As Carla mutters what Levi _swears_ is a “Fucking Kitz,” her mate, Grisha, walks closer to the group with a confused and almost appalled “What?”

While Luci and Kenny move to talk to Grisha, Carla gently puts her hand on Levi’s arm, guiding him to follow her direction.

“Luci already told me all about what happened on your first day.” the woman smiles, a pleasant wave of nutmeg and camellia flowing from her to reflect her sincere amity. “I’ve got better things than to hear about it again. Kitz is a wreck, and I can’t imagine why he still has a salary.”

He lifts a brow at her candor, “Sounds like I’m not the only one that cop gives a hard time.”

Carla shakes her head with an annoyed sigh, “No, and you won’t be the last either. Though he does tend to signal out the university goers the most, so be careful not to, oh, what was it?” She looks up at him, mischief in her eyes. “‘Disturbing the Peace,’ again?”

A soft chuckle can’t help but tumble through him as he realizes why Luci seems so fond of the woman.

Carla shakes her head with a laugh as she keeps leading Levi down the sidewalk, “No, you’ll be fine. Though I’d love it if you met my son and his friends. Just so you have some familiar faces when you go on campus.”

A weird feeling settles in him when he processes what she said, “Son?”

“Eren!” Carla calls out towards the group of people standing a few feet ahead of them. “Come here! I want you to meet someone!”

Suddenly a whole bunch of things made sense about the Jaegers and why their consistent spice-laden scents seemed so familiar to him. Grisha and Carla were the brat’s parents. _Shit_ . Hey, it’s great information to have, but _shit_ . What were the odds? Small town of almost twenty thousand people and what were the _fucking o d d s?_

And it’s not even, ‘Wow, what are the fucking odds that the couple I just met are the parents of the brat I nearly killed last week?’ or even ‘Hey, I just coincidentally met the parents of the random stranger I’m totally not attracted to.” It’s more of a ‘How the fuck are the friends of my aunt and uncle also the parents of the very same brat I not only almost killed last week but who I’m also _totally not_ attracted to?”

 _God_ , if Kenny knew… if _Kenny knew_ , he’d be done for. He’d never live it down.

He was thrown out of his thoughts when he registered the brat coming to a stop in front of him and Carla. Now that they’re standing so close together, he can see how much taller the brat was compared to him - clearly the brat inherited his father's height. He didn't have nearly a foot over him like Erwin did, but Levi still had make an effort to look at him. They both manage to keep their faces neutral, not giving a single indication that they had met each other before now.

Carla smiles at them both, none the wiser in this single moment.

Gesturing towards Levi, she looks at her son, “This is Levi Ackerman, Kenny’s nephew. He’s finishing his associate’s degree at the university this semester.”

The brat glances at him with an apparent curiosity, his scent more rich with daffodil than ginger at the moment, amiable and sweet. But a distance was there, and when he smiled at Levi with closed lips and a particular glint in his eyes - a far cry from the smile the brat had given back in the church - Levi could see how forced it was.

“Hi.” and the brat’s voice seems to cut through whatever daze Levi found himself in.

Trying to make sure he doesn’t sound strangled, he responds with an equally brief, “Hey.”

And just as quickly - as if Levi wasn’t even there - Eren turned back to Carla, “The group’s going to go to Hannes’s Diner for the day. I’m riding with Bertolt.”

Her brows pinched in confusion, “Why aren’t you riding with Armin?”

“He’s being pissy ‘cause he’s going into his heat soon - ow!” he whines when Carla makes a grab for his ear. “What? He is!”

She scoffs at him as she releases his ear, “So what? You don’t just talk about other people’s private business in front of strangers.”

She lets her son rub at his reddened ear as she turns to Levi with a grimace, “I’m sorry, Levi. He’s got a mouth on him, I know.”

Levi has a feeling that Armin’s “pissyness” has less to do with his heat and more to do with the stunt that the brat pulled last week, but he keeps his mouth quiet about that. Wanting to move the conversation along, he shook his head, “No, it’s alright. I'm sure I’ve said much worse in front of people I shouldn’t have.”

Carla smiles at him with a strained giggle, still clearly embarrassed by her child. Turning her head back to her son, she points behind him and makes a shoo’ing motion with her hand.

“Go off with your friends,” Carla sighs, “Just remember your curfew.”

“I will!” the brat says with his smile returning without a care before he turns and rushes back to his friends. Within moments, they break apart into smaller groups as they bolt towards the parking lot.

Levi feels like a weight lifted off him as the person of his scrambled feelings runs off.

He watches Carla look fondly on the gaggle of young adults as they disappear within the crowd of cars before a thought starts nagging at him.

“Didn’t think college kids still did curfews.” he quips, eyes still trailing after the brat while he waits for Carla to respond.

She chuckles as she continues watching the cars pull out of the parking lot, “When that boy starts living on his own and paying for everything, then he can set his own hours.”

The corners of his lips tick up a bit, “I guess that’s pretty fair.”

“It’s definitely fair.” she affirms as looks back at him. “Sorry I didn’t get you to meet his friends. He threw me off back there.”

“No, it’s fine.” Levi shakes his head. “I’m already familiar with a few of them from working at the bar. Armin, Sasha, and… Connie?”

“Oh, yes, those three. Luci’s little helpers.” Carla nods her head with a fond smile. “Well, if you see them on campus then I’m sure you’ll get acquainted with the rest of them in due time.”

A sharp whistle catches both their attentions and the pair turn to see Kenny waltz up to them. He tilts his head in Carla’s direction, eyes narrowing without any genuine ire.

“Did ya really make Luci promise ya we’d come with y’all to brunch today?” he asks through the cigarette between his teeth.

“What?” Levi glances at Carla, face impassive but internally filling with dread.

“I did.” She looks proud. “It’s a brunch with the reverend and a few others. They want to meet Levi, and this is a perfect opportunity to do so.”

Levi can’t help but scoff as he moves to stand at Kenny’s side, turning to look at Carla with a raised brow, “What am I? A circus?”

“Or a Freak Show.” she supplies seemly. “You’re new in town, and the town reps want to get a good look at the stunning new gentleman coming down from the big city.”

Kenny sniggers before pointing at Levi, “ _‘Stunning new gentleman.’_ Who? Him? Look at him!”

Okay, damn, Kenny. Don’t be a prick.

.oO0Oo.

The brunch had been weird. And awkward. And just not a good time, Levi had eventually decided.

Levi was just speaking for himself of course. He was much in agreement with Kenny that Sunday mass _and_ going out to eat with a bunch of people - people he didn’t know - back to back was too much human interaction to put up with happily. And while the brunch had been a fine time for the most part, he wasn’t too fond about having to talk to Reverend Nick on account that the man never seemed to get out of his whole ‘preacher’ act (cult leader, he’s sure of it). Thankfully, he could easily tune the man out when the conversation wasn’t directed at him.

There were pluses. He got to meet the dean of the university, too. Darius Zackly seemed not _too_ bad of an individual. He was an older man who just appeared proud of the graduating class for the semester.

Then it turned out that Zackly and Nick were both in contact with Kitz Weilman quite often.

“Now, I’m not saying Kitz wasn’t being too eccentric.” Zackly had said to him from across the table. “And I don’t know the rules you have up in Stohess. But here in Shiganshina, we have rules about playing music too loud.”

“Stupid rules.” Kenny had muttered.

The statement had gotten Reverend Nick to pop off and soon all the men at the table were in a soft uproar. Levi let it all go over his head, more invested in tuning them out and eating his food than he was watching Kenny argue with the others. 

Luci had tapped him on the shoulder to get his attention and he looked up to see her playfully rolling her eyes.

“You see what I choose to live with?” she had said with a smirk.

And he had given her a small smile back, “Your choices always have baffled me.”

He was happy that the brunch hadn’t lasted too much longer after that.

But that was yesterday! Fast forward to the present and Levi finds himself having parked his motorcycle in the lot closest to the majority of his classes on a Monday morning, and he has no memory of how he got to that point.

Looking down, he knows he dressed correctly: his usual button-up, dark jeans, and boots; covered up with his biker jacket and -- wait, _wait_ . Why the fuck did he put on a tie? Actually, no, fuck it, the tie isn’t bad. What’s bad is the fact that he tightened it right up to the collar that makes him look like a salaryman who put on the wrong jacket, and it makes his face sour. He just needs to loosen it - pull it down, unbutton the collar a bit, and _there_ , problem solved. He can breathe. And he doesn’t look like an idiot.

What else did he or did he not do this morning? It is still morning, right? He checks his watch and hums at it reads ‘9 A.M.’ He’s got his first course in thirty-five minutes, great.

But back to remembering. When did he wake up? When did he go to sleep? Did he even go to sleep? No answers seem to come to his mind - a realization that he finds doesn’t perturb him as much as it probably should.

It occurs to Levi right then that it seemed like today was just going to be one of those “through-the-motions” days. Which he knows probably isn’t the best time to have a day like that when it’s the first day of the semester, but he accepts that there really wasn’t much he could do about it. He’s just glad he got all back together now rather than later.

Instead of dwelling, he slips off his helmet and tucks it away in his saddlebag, pulling out his backpack in exchange before securing the locks. It’s better to just go about his day anyway. There’s no point in trying to figure out little details that probably didn’t matter anyway. He’ll ask Luci what he did before he left when he gets back to the bar in the afternoon.

Thinking about it like this makes it easier not to dwell.

As he starts walking towards the campus buildings, he pulls out a small map of the campus that he had printed out. He might have more than enough time to make it to his class, but he’s already acknowledged to himself that he’s started the day off weird and he’s not risking it.

After a brief glance at the map and then a glance at the nearest street sign, he clicks his tongue because he double checked for nothing.

A small, cool breeze blows past him as he walks up the road and he can’t help but find contentment in the nice blend of ginger and lavender that fills his nose.

“Morning, Levi!”

Following the voice and scents, his eyes land on Armin and the brat waving at him from across the street. Well, Armin was waving at him. The brat was just standing nearby.

He brings his head up to give a half-hearted salute back to the pair as he crosses the road to meet them. He can’t help but notice that Armin seems a lot more chipper than how Eren described him the day before.

Before he could say anything, the brat pipes in with a snark, “Nice tie.”

He looks down at the simple navy-sheened tie loosely hanging from his neck as Armin whacks his arm across his friend’s chest.

He looks back up to see the boys growling at each other with obvious fake malice that gives way to a flurry of laughter before Armin manages to tear himself away and looks back at him with an expression mixed with amusement and exhaustion.

“He’s already starting with his attitude. Can you believe it?” the blond breathes out through a quick laugh as he points his thumb back to his friend. “He only did that because I wanted to compliment you on your tie.”

“Hoh?” Levi can’t help but let his mouth hang open a little. Glancing down, he fingers at the end of the tie, trying to figure out what was so great about it. “Uh, thanks. I didn’t really think about it.” _Literally_.

Armin’s lips thin as if he’s trying to hold in a laugh at Levi’s bemusement, “No. Seriously, I mean it. Not a lot of people can pull that off like you seem to do.”

“I wouldn’t be so sure, Ar.” The brat comes up from behind to wrap his arms around the blond, leaning down a bit to sing-song directly in his ear while looking directly at Levi with that impish glare. “I think you’re just being blinded by that city boy charm~”

It took everything in Levi to not let the shiver that racketed through his body show.

While Armin tries his best to wrestle his friend off of his back, Levi just looks at the brat. Staring, scrutinizing, thinking while he feels a soft heat rise in his cheeks. He’s wondering if just maybe he should let himself get trapped in his feelings for the brat just for the heck of it. The brat’s always seemed to have this way of snapping him back into the world so far. Maybe he should just… well, try?

‘Cause why the fuck not, honestly?

While Armin finally manages to push the taller omega away, his back towards the alpha, Levi firms his resolve and calls out a simple:

“Eren.”

The brat stills before slowly straightening up and turning to look back at him. The look in those ocean eyes is something akin to wonder, disbelief, and intrigue all mixed together. Almost like that time in the church the other day, Levi for a brief moment waits for, hopes for, that beautiful smile to grace him just like it had once before.

But it hasn’t happened yet, and for a fraction of a second, a small thought crosses his head that he said the omega’s name wrong. He doesn’t get how. It’s two syllables. Four letters. He’s heard it at least twice! How could he have possibly fucked it up?

He feels a minute furrow of his brow as he asks, “It is ‘Eren,’ isn’t it?” because the omega still hasn’t said anything, and now he _has_ to know.

And _then_ there’s that smile, _the_ smile. The _grin_. The flash of teeth and scrunched nose and bright, enchanting eyes. And the brat has the gall to chuckle after mentally jerking him around like that. He can hear Armin scoff in the background at the scene, and, truthfully, he doesn’t blame the blond one bit.

Eren. Is. A. Fucking. Brat.

And the weirdest thing is… he _likes_ it.

And the brat looks so smug about it, cheeks high and eyes squinted in amusement. He steps off to the side, passing by Armin as he clasps his hands behind his back.

“Very good.” he says, looking at Levi one last time before turning his head and carrying on down the sidewalk to the campus courtyards.

Armin rolls his eyes before waving a quick goodbye to Levi and running off to catch up with his mischievous friend.

Levi can’t help bet let out a quiet, amused sigh. At least he can count on the brat’s cheekiness to make him sharpen up.

He looks at his watch. He has less than thirty minutes until his first class, but he knows where he’s going. He’s fine. Just get back to walking.

“Who’s the cute one?”

In hindsight he’s going to berate himself for getting so out of sync with his senses that he completely missed someone coming up from behind, but for now he only gets mildly spooked.

And irritated.

Mainly because of who it was. He’d recognize that mix of marigold and larch anywhere.

Quickly turning around, he growls as he glares up at the well-groomed and impeccably dressed alpha that had snuck up from behind him.

“The fuck are you doing here, Erwin?”

The man raises a single placating hand as he looks back at him, as if the gesture actually does anything to lower the other man’s hackles.

“Called Luci and asked her if you were still at the bar,” Erwin said lightly. “She said you had already taken off to the campus so I--”

“--No, _Eyebrows_ .” Levi interjects, eyes narrowed with increasing suspicion. “The fuck are you going here, _in Shiganshina_?”

The older alpha gives a brief look of realization before it falls back into a chuckle and smile. He briefly looks around before he puts his attention back to Levi.

“I’m in town because I wanted to see how you were settling in.” Erwin says placidly. “Friends do that, you know. Check in on one another.”

Levi’s face is incredulous as he straightens up, still glaring at the other man, “Yeah, they check in by calling on the phone or something, not driving over an hour from inner Trost. What the hell, Erwin? It’s Monday. Don’t you have work?”

“Indeed.” Erwin only nods his head, a small smile still present on his face, “I took some research days for a case I’m working on and decided to stop by for a bit since I was in the area.”

Levi’s irritation has yet to dissolve, “You should’ve just done your research and left.”

“Wow, I feel the love.”

.oO0Oo.

Despite Levi’s initial displeasure, he doesn’t tell Erwin to piss off and they soon fall into step together rather easily. The older alpha walked with Levi all the way to his first class before mentioning that he planned to audit a class or two and make use of the visitor-open campus library. They agreed to meet up for lunch in the dining hall near the south courtyard after Levi’s morning classes. 

Levi only had two classes to get through, both lecture periods. The first one he managed well in. No inability to focus or boredom after the one-hour mark. His second class was a different story. His inattention was no reflection of the class, more it was his hunger making itself apparent and him realizing that he probably left the bar without eating anything for breakfast. He couldn’t wait for lunch fast enough.

When his last class let out, he immediately set out to the dining hall. He didn’t care if Erwin didn’t show up before or after him, he was on a mission - he was getting something, _anything_ , to eat.

But there Erwin was, waiting for him outside the hall and catching his attention with a cordial wave. Sometimes he really hates the man’s punctuality.

After they had gotten their food and sat down, Levi’s mood started mellowing out once he got some food in his gut. 

“So.” Erwin took a pause from his meal, lacing his fingers together as he looked at Levi. Once upon a time, Levi would have felt annoyed and prepared to hear but not listen whenever he saw his companion get in that position. Nowadays, he can anticipate teasing remarks and feel, privately, endlessly fond. “Has anyone said anything about how you look today?”

Okay, definitely not feeling endlessly fond right now. Levi sighs through his nose as he looks up from his own plate. Swallowing, he starts to mutter, “Fucking kids lyin’ through their teeth…”

“Hey, I’m not saying that you look bad. You look good.” Erwin raises a hand to catch his attention, and while he sounds placating, the teasing glint in his eyes acts against him. “I asked because I’m wondering if you made that choice on your own.”

“Oh, fuck you.”

The blond hums, lacing his fingers together again, “I’ll pass. But - honestly - you did dress well. I figured with the weather you’d be more focused on staying warm, but I suppose you always manage to surprise me.”

Levi glances over at him, deciding not to mention that he didn’t remember getting dressed this morning, “With the way my shirt and tie were when I first rolled up here, I looked like a salaryman.”

With furrowed brows, Erwin brings a hand to cover his mouth as he lets out a soft gasp, “Levi…”

“ _Oi_ , I fixed it didn’t I?”

Erwin still looked mildly scandalized, “Please, just tell me you fixed yourself before someone saw you looking like that.”

Levi fixes him with a glare, “So were just gonna ignore _you_ dressing like a salaryman? For a living. ‘Cause you’re a lawyer.”

Erwin merely straightens his back (as if he’d been slouching in the first place) and places his folded hands on his crossed legs - immediately knows where the conversation will head because cannot ignore the fact that Erwin looks much more akin to that of a sophisticated rich man from a film noir rather than a sweaty, overworked salaryman and that the only thing missing from the visual is the cigar and brandy.

“Levi.” the blond begins.

“Yes?”

“Do I look like a salaryman?”

Levi could be a dick. He could be an ass. He could be an absolute prickly knothead. He could be so, _so_ many things and totally tell Erwin, even if it wasn’t true, that yes, he does look like a fuckin’ sweatyass salaryman who’s been nurturing his alcoholism for the past five years. And you know what? Six years ago, when his pain then was still fresh and his hatred for Erwin nearly outweighed his tolerance for the alpha, he would have fuckin’ said it. That and whole lot of other colorful and spiteful true, half-true, and untrue things.

But he’s mellowed out since then, he likes to think, and he’s much more fond of Erwin now to the point that when he looks back on how much he would’ve probably killed the older alpha for literally any good enough reason makes him cringe.

So instead, he clicks his tongue before turning back to his food, “You look nice. Like always.”

He can feel Erwin’s smile bore into the back of his head, and he hopes that continuing to shove food into his mouth will distract him from the thought.

“Thank you, Levi.” Is all Erwin says as he turns back to his own lunch. “It’s always nice--”

“Levi!”

The familiar voice cuts through Levi’s attempt at finishing his food, and he looks up to see Armin slowing to a stop in front of the table that he and Erwin are seated at. He sees Armin glance over at Erwin once, _twice_ \- okay, no, _no_! That better be because of the fuckin’ caterpillars Erwin has on his face and not because of how attractive he is. We’re not doing that. That’s not gonna happen--

“What do you want, Arlert?”

Armin puts his attention back to Levi after a _third fucking glance_ (please, no, stop) at Erwin before the focus seems to come back into his eyes.

The blond omega simply shrugs, “Just wondering why you’re eating the awful dining hall food, that’s all.”

Levi raises a brow, “This is better than army rations.”

Armin nods his head, like he’s soaking in the knowledge, “True, _but_ can I offer you food that’s even better than this. Food almost on par with what’s served at the bar?”

Levi can sense Erwin’s unmasked intrigue when he sees the other lean back in his chair from the corner of his eyes. And what sucks is that Levi also shares the intrigue.

“Continue.”

Armin doesn’t, but he does gesture behind himself and move out of the way for the two alphas to see a group of students - Armin and the brat’s friends, Levi recognizes - sitting together in a large group with a large and very beautiful bounty of food spread upon the two combined tables.

Levi purses his lips before glancing up at the omega, “And by almost on par, do you mean...”

Armin merely nods, “Yes, I do mean Sasha made the food.”

Well fuckin’ say _less_! Fuck the shit he bought, he’s going to that table. He grabs the remains of his food and tosses it into the nearest trash can while he hears Armin walk up to Erwin with a very prim, “Hi, I’m Armin, stop eating this.” Which followed with a “Fine by me, I’m Erwin.” Half a minute ago, he’d care about stopping any interaction between them, but Levi just wants some delicious fuckin’ food, so he’ll let whatever will happen between the two blonds happen if that means he gets some of Sasha’s good food again.

He let’s Armin lead them up towards the other table because he’s not really acquainted with any of them other than the omega and Sasha and Connie. The other four are kinda mysteries to him. He sees one of them - a burly alpha with shortly-cut blond hair - move to pull out two extra chairs. Awe, how courteous.

“Hey!” Sasha’s all smiles and excitement when she notices Armin walking up. “You got them to come!”

“I did!” Armin sounds proud as he gestures towards them. “Guys, this is Levi. He’s Kenny’s nephew from Stohess who’s living at the bar. And this is his friend--”

“--Associate--”

“--I am your friend, Levi.”

“That’s debatable.”

“He thinks he’s being funny.” Erwin sighs as the group laughs before greeting them with a charming smile. “I’m Erwin. I’m only visiting for a couple of days because I wanted to see how Levi was settling in.”

“Mother hen.”

“Fussy child.”

Their banter seemed to pull another burst of laughter from the group as they waved at them both with friendly acknowledgement. The burly alpha from before came up with the extra chairs.

“Looks like it’s your lucky day, Armin,” he grins at the omega as he sets down the two chairs in front of Levi and Erwin. “His friend’s just your type.”

While Armin stiffens and turns a soft shade of pink, Levi watches the black-haired omega that had been sitting next to the alpha swat at his arm, “Reiner!”

A two-tone haired alpha that had been sitting next to Sasha only shook his head, “That was just mean, man.”

Reiner rolled his eyes as he sat back in his own seat, “Like you wouldn’t have done the same to Eren if the opportunity came.”

“Touché.”

Armin manages to recover himself quickly and go back to the introductions while Levi and Erwin take their seats. “I know you’re already familiar with Sasha and Connie from the bar.” he starts while the aforementioned pair greet him excitedly from the other side of the table. “But sitting between them is Jean--” the alpha between Sasha and Connie casted a half-smile “--next to me is Eren’s sister, Mikasa--” the black-haired girl only nods at him “--and on the other side of the table you’ll find Reiner, the knothead with the big mouth!” 

Reiner flashes a proud grin their way before turning to Armin, “Come on, you know you love me.”

Armin bares his teeth in faux irritation, “I only love you because Bertolt loves you. Don’t push it.”

As Levi and Erwin settle in - and take their share of food - the omega that was sitting next to Reiner offers him a nervous smile, “Hello. I’m Bertolt. I promise we’re nicer to each other than the alphas make us out to be.”

Levi shakes his head, “You’re just being friends and you tease each other. It happens in every circle.”

“Oh, jeez!” Armin thumps a hand against his forehead. “I skipped over you, Bertolt. I’m so sorry.”

Bertolt shakes his head and gives back what Levi can only read as an uneasy chuckle, “No worries. Reiner got you distracted.”

Levi assumes that’s more due to the omega’s disposition rather than any actual feelings of hurt, and he moves on. From the corner of his eye he sees Erwin and Armin conversing and internally groans at the combination that those two will become. When he makes eye contact with Mikasa - hard not to when he feels her glaring daggers at him - he remembers her as the alpha that’s always glued to the brat’s hip. But he guesses that’s less weird now that he knows she’s just his sister.

Not like he was jealous of her before he learned that information. Definitely not. Nope.

She speaks first. “So you’re the city guy that everyone’s been talking about.”

“ _Mikasa_.” Armin stresses but Levi paid no mind.

“I prefer ‘Levi’ but whatever works, I guess.”

“Already getting gossiped about, I see?” Erwin raises a brow.

Connie, who’d been slowly stealing the food from Jean’s plate, piped in, “Just all the old people getting huffy and puffy about a guy from the big cities who drives a motorcycle.”

“All worried about how he’ll bring his wicked ways and influence the good and pure college kids.” Jean snarks.

“Little do they know~” Sasha sing-songed.

Erwin lets out a chuckle as he looks out upon the group, “All your parents are none the wiser to your own hellish misdeeds, I’m guessing?”

Reiner points back at the other blond while he takes a drink, “You’d be correct.”

“But we’re not that bad.” Bertolt shakes his head, almost exasperated. “We just like a little bit of fun. There’s others who’ve gotten away with far worse.”

“There’s others who _currently_ get away with worse.” Jean sneers while swatting away Connie’s hand and sliding his food towards Sasha. “Like our resident Suicidal Bastard.”

Mikasa closes her eyes with a sigh while Armin rolls his eyes and the rest of the group burst into a fit of laughter.

Erwin sends a curious look to Levi as the other is able to guess who Jean was referring to.

“I’m guessing you’re referring to the brat I almost killed during his little car-stunt last week?” He asks as he takes a sip of his drink.

“Ooh,” Reiner grinned. “He called Eren a brat.”

“Well, it’s true, isn’t it?” Armin counters.

“He’s not that bad.” Mikasa stabs at her plate.

“Mikasa--”

“--he’s having a phase.”

Jean rolls his eyes, “A phase that’s gotten progressively worse over the past ten years.”

All things considered, Levi wished he would start questioning his attraction to the brat right about now, but the sick, masochistic part of himself only feels curious.

“What’s his problem anyway?”

He ignores the way Mikasa’s eyes narrowed into slits while the rest of the group seems to ponder.

Reiner looks thoughtful for once, “From what I understand Eren was always like this.”

“A reckless hellraiser?” Armin lifts a brow. “No, that didn’t start until after high school.”

Bertolt rubs the back on his neck, looking tentative, “Yeah, but even still, he’s always been impulsive. Well-intentioned but stubborn.”

“But his antics have gotten a bit more into ‘teenage rebellion’ territory rather than Eren’s usual lack of self-restraint.” Connie chimes in. “I think it’s because he’s tired of always being thought of as the doctor’s son.”

Jean scoffs, “That’s so stupid.”

Sasha elbows him, “ _Hey!_ Why don’t you grow up while everyone in town knows your dad and talks to your dad and sometimes tattles to your dad on every little thing that you do for over twenty years because your dad happens to be the town doctor. I think a little bit of reckless abandon is earned in that scenario.”

“Babe, he almost got Armin, Mikasa, and I killed last week because he decided to play chicken on the way to Luci’s.”

“I’m not saying he’s right.” she mumbles through a bread roll. “I’m just saying that I’m not surprised he’s acting out.”

Armin smiles tiredly as he looks back to Levi and Erwin, “In conclusion: Eren has always been a little bit crazy. Kinda got a little bit crazier since we entered college. But, all the same, we still love him.”

“But at what _cost_?”

“Jean, _stop_.”

“Okay, but hold on. Why do you want to know?” Reiner looks at Levi with an inquisitive smirk. “You got your eyes on him or something?”

“ _Reiner_!”

Levi only shakes his head, “No, I don’t.”

But the younger alpha only nods, “Yes, you do.” He looks over at Mikasa who looks slightly murderous at the idea. “He does.”

“How unfortunate for him.” The sister growls. Nope. Fuck that.

“Stop it. I don’t.” Now he’s trying to convince himself as he looks at Mikasa and then back at Reiner. “We just met. Don’t make me hate you.”

Reiner laughs, “Whatever you say, city dweller.”

Levi sighs as he leans back in his chair, rubbing a hand over his eyes, “I was just curious because every time I’ve met him, he has this attitude.”

Erwin turns to Armin, “Eren is the friend who was with you when you were talking to Levi this morning, right?” At the omega’s nod, the blond turns back to Levi. “ _Levi_ , he seemed nice. You’re telling me you wouldn’t try to take him out?”

Levi didn’t appreciate Erwin's addition to the conversation, especially with his teasing tone, so he mirrors it back, “Not even for a night at the ball.”

Sasha reaches onto the table for her fifth serving, snickering, “Well that’s good to hear since we don’t do that around here.”

“What? Courting a doctor’s kid?”

Connie shakes his head, “No, she’s talking about the balls. We don’t do those.”

“Or a prom.” Mikasa mutters.

“Not even those small little dances.” Bertolt looks solemn. What the fuck?

Levi casts Erwin a glance before looking back at the table, “Why?”

Armin straightens up in his seat, terse, “Because here in Shiganshina, it’s against the law to dance if you’re under 18 or a student at the university.”

“Or listen to the wrong kind of music,” Connie adds, “can’t forget that.”

Levi sighs, looking back at Erwin in amusement before losing it when he sees the lack of humor in his friend’s eyes. Looking back at the group, he notices that not a single one of them are smiling. In fact, they all looked quite disgruntled, and the mood suddenly felt a lot duller. All at once, it clicks to Levi that they weren’t joking.

Any ounce of eloquence or competency Levi thought to have possessed left him because the only thing he could think to say - the only thing that was able to leave his mouth was -

“The fuck?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [02.15.2021 NOTE EDIT]  
> Like I mentioned last chapter, this fic had a prototype on FF.net many, _many_ years ago. The OG ch 2 was only 3652 words and this new and improved ch 2 is 9150 words. A 5498 word difference. Absolutely bonkers.
> 
> I would appreciate y'all's comments! :>
> 
> WIPdates on my profile!
> 
> \- Boki 🌸


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